U.S. patent number 4,510,215 [Application Number 06/448,628] was granted by the patent office on 1985-04-09 for casing for a battery of cylindrical electric cells.
This patent grant is currently assigned to SAFT. Invention is credited to Michel Adam.
United States Patent |
4,510,215 |
Adam |
April 9, 1985 |
Casing for a battery of cylindrical electric cells
Abstract
A casing for a battery of cylindrical electric cells lying
parallel to one another includes two insulating half casings each
formed by one or more modules (2) having n or n+1 recesses in the
form of part cylindrical cavities. The modules have two end edges
and have respective complementary interfitting portions (24, 25)
enabling two modules to be connected end-to-end. Each module
further has two base plates (26, 27) orthogonal to the axes of said
part cylindrical cavities and having complementary fixing parts
(28, 29). A casing having any number of cell-receiving recesses
greater than one can be assembled from modules having n and n+1
part cylindrical cavities, where n is equal to 2.
Inventors: |
Adam; Michel (Gournay,
FR) |
Assignee: |
SAFT (Romainville,
FR)
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Family
ID: |
9269988 |
Appl.
No.: |
06/448,628 |
Filed: |
December 10, 1982 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
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Jan 14, 1982 [FR] |
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82 00528 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
429/99; D13/103;
429/48; 429/97; 429/100 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01M
50/213 (20210101); Y02E 60/10 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H01M
2/10 (20060101); H07M 002/10 () |
Field of
Search: |
;429/9,48,96,97,99,100
;D13/4,8-11 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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1336265 |
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Jul 1963 |
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FR |
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2369693 |
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May 1978 |
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FR |
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570003 |
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Dec 1957 |
|
IT |
|
Primary Examiner: Hearn; Brian E.
Assistant Examiner: Kalafut; Stephen J.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Kenyon & Kenyon
Claims
I claim:
1. A casing for a battery of cylindrical electric cells lying
parallel to one another, wherein the casing comprises
interconnected first and second insulating half casings with each
half casing comprising at least one module having n and one module
having n+1 part cylindrical cell-receiving cavities extending
parallel to one another between base plates which are orthogonal to
the axes of said part cylindrical cavities, the end edges of the
cavities being provided with respective first complementary
interfitting portions to enable a plurality of modules to be
connected end-to-end to increase the number of side-by-side
cell-receiving cavities in a half casing, and the base plates being
provided with respective second complementary interfitting portions
to enable the first and second half casings of any one battery to
be assembled with the cavities facing each other.
2. A casing according to claim 1, wherein said casing is closed at
its ends by two end plates which co-operate with the end edges of
the end modules.
3. A casing according to claim 1, wherein said complementary
seconds interfitting portions are of the latch and eye type.
4. A casing according to claim 1, wherein said complementary
portions designed to fit together are of the dovetail mortise and
tenon type.
5. A casing according to claim 1, wherein said cavities are
separated by intermediate ribs, said ribs being of a thickness such
that they provide sufficient electric insulation between two
neighbouring electric cells.
6. A casing according to claim 1, wherein the height of said
orthogonal base plates is chosen so that said casing contains at
least two superposed rows of electric cells.
7. A molded insulating casing for a battery of cylindrical
electrical cells, the casing comprising two half casings, each half
casing including at least two modules assembled in the form of an
open box having a base wall formed with at least 2n+1 part
cylindrical cell-receiving cavities, n being an integer, such that
each half casing has the same total number of cell-receiving
cavities, and the two half casings together include two modules
having n cell-receiving cavities and two modules having n+1 cell
receiving cavities, the cavities having axes arranged in parallel
coplanar relation, and each module having two spaced apart end
edges parallel to the axes of the cavities, said end edges being
provided with respective first complementary interfitting portions
to enable a plurality of said modules to be connected end-to-end to
form said half casings, and each module having two spaced apart
side walls perpendicular to the axes of the part cylindrical
cavities, said side walls being provided with second complementary
interfitting portions for releasably locking together the two half
casings with the part cylindrical cavities of said half casings
facing each other.
8. An enclosed casing according to claim 7 wherein said second
complementary interfitting portions comprise a resilient latch
member associated with each part cylindrical cavity on one side
wall of each module and a latch-receiving eye associated with each
part cylindrical cavity on the other side wall of each module.
9. An enclosed casing according to claim 7 wherein each half casing
comprises an assembly of one of said modules having two part
cylindrical cavities end-to-end with one of said modules having
three part cylindrical cavities to provide a total of five
cell-receiving cavities in each half casing, the modules of one
half casing being assembled in reverse order with respect to the
modules of the other half casing, such that the interfaces between
the modules of each half casing are offset when the two half
casings are interlocked together.
10. An enclosed casing according to claim 7 wherein one half casing
comprises an end-to-end assembly of two of said modules each having
three part cylindrical cavities, and the other half casing
comprises an end-to-end assembly of three of said modules each
having two part cylindrical cavities, whereby each half casing has
a total of six cell-receiving cavities, and the interfaces of the
modules of each half casing are offset when the two half casings
are interlocked together.
11. An enclosed casing according to claim 7, wherein the width of
said side walls of each module is selected to provide a depth of
the cell receiving cavities in the module greater than one cell
diameter, whereby the assembled two half casings will accommodate
at least two superposed rows of electric cells.
12. An enclosed casing according to claim 7 wherein each half
casing comprises an assembly of one of said modules having n part
cylindrical cavities end-to-end with one of said modules having n+1
part cylindrical cavities to provide a total of 2n+1 cell-receiving
cavities in each half casing, the modules of one half casing being
assembled in reverse order with respect to the modules of the other
half casing, such that the interfaces between the modules of each
half casing are offset when the two half casings are interlocked
together.
13. A molded insulating casing for a battery of cylindrical
electrical cells, the casing comprising two half casings, each half
casing including at least one module assembled in the form of an
open box having a base wall containing at least n+1 part
cylindrical cell-receiving cavities, n being an integer, such that
each half casing has the same total number of cell-receiving
cavities, and the two half casings together include at least one
module having n cell-receiving cavities and one module having n+1
cell-receiving cavities, the cavities having axes arranged in
parallel coplanar relation, and each module having two spaced apart
end edges parallel to the axes of the cavities, said end edges
being fitted with respective first complementary interfitting
portions to enable a plurality of said modules to be connected
end-to-end to form said half casings, and each module having two
spaced apart side walls perpendicular to the axes of the part
cylindrical cavities, said side walls being provided with second
complementary interfitting portions for releasably locking together
the two half casings with the part cylindrical cavities of said
half casings facing each other.
14. An enclosed casing according to claim 13 wherein one of said
half casings comprises at least one module having n+1
cell-receiving cavities, and the other of said half casings
comprises at least two modules having n cell-receiving cavities.
Description
The present invention relates to a casing for a battery of electric
cells, be they primary cells or storage cells. It relates more
particularly to cylindrical electric cells of any desired size
which are installed side by side so as to form one or more
rows.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
One of the problems is to provide sufficient mechanical cohesion
between a plurality of electric cells which are electrically
connected in parallel or in series by means of electric
connections.
As is well known, when electric cells have an insulating outer
sheath, they can be held together by glue or else by strapping them
together using ribbon, adhesive tape, or heat-shrinkable sleeves,
etc. These means require tooling suited to the particular number of
electric cells which are used to constitute the battery.
When electric cells have no insulating sheath, it is essential to
keep two electric cells a sufficient distance spart to isolate them
from each other. For example, French Pat. No. 2 369 693 describes a
casing with a container closed by a lid and having inner
compartments which separate the electric cells from one another. It
is obvious that a specific type of casing must be provided for each
size of battery constituted by a given number of electric
cells.
Preferred embodiments of the present invention provide a battery
casing which can be used for any number of electric cells of the
same size, regardless whether they are fitted with insulating
sheaths and which makes it unnecessary to have tooling in all sorts
of different sizes together with fixing accessories such as glue,
bonding material tape, etc.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a casing for a battery of
cylindrical electric cells lying parallel to one another, wherein
the casing comprises interconnected first and second insulating
half casings with each half casing comprising at least one module
having n or n+1 part cylindrical cell-receiving cavities extending
parallel to one another between base plates which are orthogonal to
the axes of said part cylindrical cavities, the end edges of the
modules being provided with respective first complementary
interfitting portions to enable a plurality of modules to be
connected end-to-end to increase the number of side-by-side
cell-receiving cavities in a half casing, and the base plates being
provided with respective second complementary interfitting portions
to enable the first and second half casings of any one battery to
be assembled to each other.
In one embodiment, said cavities are separated by one less
intermediate rib than there are cavities, said ribs being of a
thickness such that they provide sufficient electric insulation
between two neighbouring electric cells.
In a variant, said second complementary interfitting portions are
of the latch and eye type and said first complementary portions
designed to fit together are of the dovetail mortise and tenon
type.
The casing may be closed at its ends by two end plates which
co-operate with the end edges of the end modules.
A casing in accordance with the invention may contain a single row
of electric cells, but the height of said orthogonal base plates
may be chosen so that said casing contains at least two superposed
rows of electric cells.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Other features and advantages of the present invention become
apparent from the following description of embodiments given by way
of non-limiting example and in which the chosen value of n is
2;
In the accompanying drawings:
FIG. 1 is a perspective illustration of a module with two
cavities;
FIG. 2 is a perspective illustration of a module with three
cavities;
FIG. 3 is a perspective illustration of one type of casing in
accordance with the invention;
FIG. 4 is a partial cross-section through the casing of FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 illustrates schematically five configurations A, B, C, D, E
for casings in accordance with invention; and
FIG. 6 is a perspective illustration of a casing in accordance with
the invention containing two rows of electric cells.
MORE DETAILED DESCRIPTION
FIG. 1 shows an insulating module 2 with two partially cylindrical
cavities 1 separated by an intermediate rib 21. End edges 22 and 23
have complementary portions 24-25 in the form of dovetail tenons
and mortises which are capable of co-operating with the edges of
other modules juxtaposed thereto. The module 2 has two base plates
26 and 27 which are orthogonal to the axes of the cavities 1. The
base plate 26 is provided with resilient latches 28, and the base
plate 27 is provided with latch-receiving eyes 29.
FIG. 2 illustrates an insulating module 3 with three cavities 1;
ribs 31 are analogous to the rib 21 in module 1. The module has end
edges 32 and 33 with dovetail tenons 24 and dovetail mortises 25
and base plates 36 and 37 which are provided with latches 28 and
eyes 29. One latch 28 and one eye 29 is provided for each cavity 1;
they are located at opposited ends thereof.
FIG. 3 is a perspective illustration of an insulating casing in
accordance with the invention and designed to accomodate five
electric cells lying parallel to one another. The casing is formed
by upper and lower half casings each constituted by a module 3 snap
fitted end on to a module 2 along a line 40.
The casing is closed at its ends by two insulating end plates 41
and 42 which co-operate with the tenons 24 and the mortises 25 of
the end edges of the modules 3 and 2. A metal output terminal 45 is
schematically illustrated fixed to the casing, but any other
analogous terminal arrangement can be envisaged.
FIG. 4 illustrates more presely how the upper half casing 3 is
fixed to the lower half casing 3. (It also illustrates an electric
cell 50).
The modules 2 and 3 make it possible to produce a casing which
contains any number of electric cell-receiving cavities greater
than one without its being necessary to use complicated fixing
accessories specific to a particular number of electric cells.
FIG. 5 illustrates very schematically five possible
configurations:
A: a casing with two modules 2 for two electric cells.
B: a casing with two modules 3 for three electric cells.
C: a casing for four electric cells and comprising two identical
half casings constituted by pairs of modules 2.
D: a casing for five electric cells having an upper half casing
constituted by a module 3 followed by a module 2 and a lower half
casing constituted by a module 2 followed by a module 3.
E: a casing for six electric cells having an upper half casing
constituted by two modules 3 and a lower half casing constituted by
three modules 2.
Of course, any other combination is possible.
FIG. 6 illustrates a casing 60 which contains two rows 65 and 66 of
juxtaposed electric cells.
The upper half casing has a three-cavity module 63 followed by a
two-cavity module 62, while the lower half casing has a module 62
followed by a module 63.
The modules 62 and 63 are identical in all respects to the
previously described modules 2 and 3 except that base plates 67,
68, 77 and 78 are higher than the base plates 26, 27, 36 and 37 so
as to accomodate both rows of cells 65 and 66. The means for fixing
the modules are unchanged.
Of course, the invention is not limited to the embodiments
described and illustrated. There can be any number of
cell-receiving cavities.
The latch and eye and the dovetail fixing means can be replaced by
any equivalent fixing means.
* * * * *